PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- A state task force charged with looking at why Rhode Island does not provide mental health and substance abuse information to the national gun check system meets Thursday for the third time.

By Philip Marcelo

PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- A state task force charged with looking at why Rhode Island does not provide mental health and substance abuse information to the national gun check system meets Thursday for the third time.

The 20-member panel, made up of appointments from the governor's office and legislature, will hear from Craig Stenning, head of the state Department of Behavioral Healthcare, Developmental Disabilities and Hospitals and Rhode Island District Court Chief Judge Jeanne LaFazia.

It will also discuss background check policies in Massachusetts, which also has not submitted any mental health data to the national system as of 2011, and Connecticut, which has submitted more than 11,000 records, according a report by the Mayors Against Illegal Guns Coalition.

Rhode Island requires a background check for all gun sales, but does not contribute substance abuse or mental health information to the system, a fact that came to light in the wake of the massacre of children and teachers at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., in December 2012.

The task force is reviewing, among other issues, how different states participate in the gun check system, which is officially called the National Instant Criminal Background Check System, or NICS.

It is expected to submit to state lawmakers its recommendations in January, the start of the 2014 legislative session.

Thursday's meeting starts at 3:15 p.m. in Room 313 of the State House and will be televised live on Channel 15 ( Cox) and Channel 34 (Verizon) and streamed live online at www.rilin.state.ri.us/CapTV.